Tour Diary: Post War Years @ SXSW '09

Hello. I have been handed the task of breaking SXSW down for you in a rap. This is no mean feat - anyone who has been there will surely agree the place is nuts - so Iâm going to give it to you day-by-day, possibly with the help of bullet points.
Tuesday: Arrived, dropped off bags and headed in to town. The festival doesnât start until tomorrow but itâs already pretty hectic as there is another festival running which we are playing the closing party of tonight. Our heads a... (continued)

Hello. I have been handed the task of breaking SXSW down for you in a rap. This is no mean feat - anyone who has been there will surely agree the place is nuts - so Iâm going to give it to you day-by-day, possibly with the help of bullet points.
Tuesday: Arrived, dropped off bags and headed in to town. The festival doesnât start until tomorrow but itâs already pretty hectic as there is another festival running which we are playing the closing party of tonight. Our heads are broken from sleep deprivation and general confusion, which all adds to the energy of our show Iâm sure. The Proclaimers are the headline act, which is a laugh, two old men with guitars â nice.
Wednesday: We arise and head out - today we are playing the Leviâs Fader Fort and our main showcase at the Chess Club party. First we get free jeans (always nice) and then head to the Fader stage where we bump in to Esser, who is playing before us. The sound on stage is terrible but the sun is shining and after the set we enjoy a beer with Micachu before moving on and chilling out. At Chess Club we enjoy Wave Machines who borrow much of our equipment, do our piece and then enjoy a bev whilst watching Mumford and Sons, albeit without Ben on keys. Itâs weird, we want to stay out drinking but everywhere shuts down pretty early by our standards, so we retire for the night with a final beer back at the flat.
Thursday: Day off today so we get out and enjoy some other bands. First on a tipoff we check out Love Like Fire who are awesome, then a little mission out of town to see Local Natives, who do a Talking Heads cover and didnât disappoint, top quality. Next off to see Bang Bang Eche, all the way from New Zealand, an energetic bunch of youngsters who have got a good buzz around them at the moment, also top quality. After this the day gets a little hazy, I think more from sunstroke than beer, I remember Gomez at Stubbs (who were pretty weak), one beer, chatting to the young guy from Third Rock From The Sun (nice chap) and Peter, Bjorn and John (alright, really just wanted to hear the whistle tune). Finally, bed.
Friday: Today we play West Rocks at Beauty bar, after breakfast tacos in the sun we watch a few bands before setting up, the highlight of these being Chief. After we play I drink quite a lot and then, unable to get a taxi, the kindly Dollyrots give us a lift with our gear â thanks a lot guys! We duly promise to come to their show and then donât, check out White Lies even though weâve seen them a million times (they donât disappoint!), get bought a beer by Steve and then watch Maps and Atlases, who were absolutely the best band of the festival for all of us. They totally blew my mind and I still cry sometimes.
Saturday: Early start as we head to a studio to do a live session for WOXY radio. They have the nicest studio Iâve ever been in and are pretty good guys to boot. This was fun and I think can still be found at woxy.comâ¦ This is it, game over and time to for a well deserved session, we seek free drinks in as many establishments as possible, completely fail to take in any music, I stumble around like a British tourist and contemplate a tattoo (which I thankfully canât afford) and then get refused entry to the Vice party despite my protestations (âbut I RPSVâd!â). I somehow get to bed. Good work.
Sunday: Most people head home today but weâre staying a day longer to chill out, we spend the day sat by the lake and then spend the evening shooting pool with a load of friends. A relaxing day to be followed by 24 hours of travel fun, but you donât need to hear about thatâ¦
See you next year!
Fred
X